Abstract

A number of research studies focus on the ways digital games can provide a rich context for students to experiment, explore and engage in meaningful formalism. These researches suggest that games can help students develop valuable skills in the transitional stage between intuitions (informal) and formal mathematics. This can be done either by playing, designing games, or reflecting on game’s rules (Kafai, 1996). In this paper we endeavour to combine these powerful approaches on learning with games, using half-baked games, an idea based on that of half-baked microworlds (Kynigos, 2001). These are games that incorporate an interesting game idea, but they are incomplete by design. Students while playing the game reflect on rules and change them in order to create a new game of their own choice. Thus they engage both in the process of instrumentation while using the game and in the process of instrumentalisation while changing the game resulting in a variety of artefacts (Guin and Trouche, 1999).